LNG permitting bill still in play; both sides declare victory

SALEM -- A contentious bill that would make it easier for liquefied natural gas developers to apply for removal-fill permits survived a key deadline on Tuesday.

Members of the House sustainability committee moved House Bill 3058 into the rules committee, keeping the proposal alive but denying backers a speedy floor vote on the issue.

Chuck Deister, a spokesman with NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc., the company that wants the bill, said legislators simply ran out of time on amendments and further vetting is reasonable.

The bill, he said, is a technical fix that would allow companies to start the application process while avoiding the condemnation of land they don't ultimately use.

But Dan Serres with Columbia Riverkeeper, a conservation group that opposes LNG terminals, called the vote "a big setback" for developers.

"House Bill 3058 is a sneak attack by the LNG industry to make it much, much easier to get these pipelines," he said.

The subject of liquefied natural gas is a sore one for House Democrats and environmentalists who naturally side with them.

The director of Columbia Riverkeeper sent out an e-mail last week denouncing sustainability committee chairman Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, as a "spineless Chair .¤.¤. choreographing a rigged hearing." The director, Brett VandenHeuvel, has since apologized for the "inappropriate" e-mail.

The group also organized a protest at a park near his home, although it did not endorse a tiny picket outside Read's home.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, called the entire ball of tactics inappropriate and ineffective.

And he said he doesn't see the bill as pro-LNG, if that's any sign of the proposal's chances.

The committee passed the bill out, without a recommendation. Concerns ranged from proper compensation to property owners to inadvertently giving LNG developers a leg up. The proposal's sponsors are Reps. Brad Witt and Mike Schaufler, both Democrats.

Tuesday was the deadline for bills to get out of their original committees.